Chocolate is a highly desirable confection product which has unique texture and flavor release properties in the mouth. Many of these desirable properties are generally attributable to the fat component of chocolate--cocoa butter--which has a narrow melting point range just slightly below normal body temperature and a sharp melting curve. Accordingly, the desirable flavor release and organoleptic sensations of chocolate occur rapidly as the chocolate melts in the mouth.
Conventional chocolate products generally contain about 30 to 60 percent sugar, about 10 to 70 percent chocolate liquor (which normally contains about 50 percent cocoa butter), about 20 to 25 percent added cocoa butter, and about 1 percent flavor and other constituents. Typically, such chocolate products contain about 30 to 34 percent total fat in the form of cocoa butter. Unfortunately, therefore, conventional chocolate products are generally high in undesirable saturated fats and calories. Due to the relatively recent interest in reducing calorie and saturated fat intake in the diet, there has been an increased interest in providing reduced-calorie and/or reduced-fat chocolate products. Most of these efforts have attempted to provide a substitute for the cocoa butter component in conventional chocolate products.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,516 (Mar. 7, 1989) provided a low-calorie, low-fat chocolate product containing an artificial sweetener, a bulking agent, and a cocoa butter substitute. The cocoa butter substitute consisted of a nondigestible fatty polyester or polyether having the approximate melting properties of cocoa butter. Specifically, the cocoa butter substitute was required to have a melting temperature of 30.degree. to 36.degree. C. and a solids content index of at least 66 at a temperature of 6.6.degree. C. below its clear melting point. One example of a suitable cocoa butter substitute was a sucrose esterification product having myristate and laurate fatty acid ester groups in a molar ratio of about 5:3 and a degree of esterification of 7.5 or higher. U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,875 (Apr. 18, 1989) provided a cocoa butter substitute comprising sucrose fatty acid esters having at least four fatty acid ester groups wherein the fatty acid groups consisted of about 25 to 50 percent lauric acid, from about 50 to 75 percent palmitic acid, and up to about 5 percent of other fatty acids. Thus, in order to achieve the required melting properties (i.e., mimicking cocoa butter), these cocoa butter substitutes had to be controlled very carefully as to the types of fatty acids, their ratios, and the overall degree of esterification. As can be seen from these patents, only a few specific sucrose fatty acid esters were suitable for use as cocoa butter substitutes in chocolate products.
European Patent publications 350,981 A1 (published Jan. 1, 1990) provides a hard-fat substitute for chocolate confectionery products. This hard-fat substitute consisted of an indigestible polyol fatty acid polyester wherein the fatty acid resides were derived from certain substantially fully hardened vegetable oils. The fatty acid residues were selected to achieve the desired melting characteristics and preferably were derived from fully hardened palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil. European Patent Publication 377,237 A2 (published Jul. 11, 1990) relates to confectionery products containing indigestible polyol fatty acid polyesters wherein at least 60 percent of the fatty acid residues consist of lauric and/or stearic acids. It is reported that the use of lauric and stearic acid residues allows for processing advantages without adversely effecting the required melting profiles. European Patent Publication 378,876 A2 (published Jul. 25, 1990) provides a fat substitute consisting of an indigestible polyol fatty acid polyester wherein the fatty acid consisted of at least 30 percent of trans-hardened unsaturated fatty acids, especially trans-hardened oleic acid. The incorporation of the trans-hardened unsaturated fatty acid is said to allow a greater compositional flexibility in regard to suitable fatty acid groups without an adverse effect upon the melting profile. European Patent Publication 410,506 A2 (published Jan. 30, 1991) relates to polyol fatty acid polyesters, defined in terms of their melting profiles, which are suitable for use in chewy confectionery products. European Patent Publication 410,507 A2 (published Jan. 30, 1991) relates to the use of polyol fatty acid polyesters in aerated or whipped products, including chocolate. Once again, suitable polyol fatty acid polyesters are selected and identified in terms of their melting characteristics. European Patent Publication 416,665 A2 (published Mar. 13, 1991) relates to the use polyol fatty acid polyesters, also defined in terms of melting characteristics, for use in soft confectionery products. Thus, it is still apparent from these just-listed publications that suitable polyol fatty acid polyesters suitable for use as cocoa butter substitutes in chocolate products must be carefully selected based on their melting characteristics. The requirement to mimic, or at least approximate, the melting characteristics of cocoa butter significantly impacts the ability to use such polyesters in confectionery products.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,888,196 (Dec. 19, 1989), 5,023,106 (Jun. 11, 1991), 5,066,510 (Nov. 19, 1991), and 5,071,669 (Dec. 10, 1991) generally relate to the use of mixtures of certain triglycerides in confectionery products. These triglycerides have certain ratios of medium chain saturated fatty acid residues (generally C.sub.6 to C.sub.10) and long chain saturated fatty acid residues (generally C.sub.20 to C.sub.24) in the three ester positions in order to obtain the desired melting and organoleptic properties. U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,669 was directed towards the use of blends of these or similar triglycerides with nondigestible polyol polyesters in various food products, including chocolate products. The polyol polyesters used can be either liquid or solid at body temperature.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide additional chocolate products and additional cocoa butter substitutes having low or reduced fat content which maintain the texture and flavor characteristics of conventional chocolate products. It would also be desirable to provide chocolate products containing sucrose fatty acid polyesters which are not required to mimic the rheological and thermal properties of cocoa butter. The compositions of this invention generally provide such low-fat or reduced-fat chocolate products having such characteristics.